Sellsumer – the latest trend in making cash during recession

Are you a sellsumer? A new trend, as defined by trendwatching.com is making ‘consumers’ become ’sellsumers’. Find out how…

A recession-induced need for cash, and an ever-growing infrastructure enabling individuals to act as (part-time) entrepreneurs, are fueling concepts that help ordinary consumers make money instead of just spending it.

Now, the economic recession is ‘helping’ to spread this ever-evolving trend among cash-strapped ordinary consumers (as opposed to just 20-something digital ‘Wunderkindern’ . Expect plenty of novel ways for consumers to make some money on the side.

After all, if saving is the new spending, then making money—from selling personal assets, properties and creations—outshines saving.

In a nutshell:

SELLSUMERS: Whether it’s selling their insights to corporations, hawking their creative output to fellow consumers, or renting out unused assets, consumers will increasingly become SELLSUMERS, too. Made possible by the online revolution’s great democratization of demand and supply, and further fueled by a global recession that leaves consumers strapped for cash, the SELLSUMERS phenomenon is yet another manifestation of the mega-trend that is ‘consumer participation’.

PART I

* Parking | Parkigspots.com connects those who have parking spots to rent out with those who need them on a monthly basis. The Toronto-based company lets spot-holders in the US and Canada list their off-street parking spots, along with the price they want to charge.

A similar service is offered by ParkAtMyHouse, operating in the UK, Ireland, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands. Fun detail: car owners can pre-book a spot daily, but can also make one-off bookings for a football match or a day of shopping in the city.

Also check out UK based YourParkingSpace and Boston and New York based SpotScout.

* Storage | Los Angeles-based Homstie offers self storage facilities, collecting fees for featured listings and for providing custom lease agreements. Also check out Store at My House.

* Camping | Swedish Single Spot Camping offers a P2P camping solution by connecting anyone who owns a suitably sized piece of land with anyone looking for a place to pitch their tent. Listings cost the landowner a mere EUR 40 per year.

* B&B | Air BnB is an online marketplace that allows locals to earn money by renting out their extra space as alternative lodging for hotel-weary travelers. Also see Roomorama.

* Any space | Combining all of the above, UK-based Spareground is a marketplace for just about any kind of unused space. Consumers with space to share simply create a listing with its description, location and price. Those seeking space search by category or keyword and then contact the owner directly to arrange the terms.

Credits: Sellsumers, Trendwatching.com, April 2009 briefing.

Part II to follow…

No Recession for DVD Rentals

We all know that there are two sides to a coin; which prompts me to believe that if someone is losing money, there’s someone making it, too. Pull that concept to entertainment, and you see why DVD rentals are on the rise — no one wants to spend $15++ per head at the movie theater. Besides, a time like this calls for entertainment at home more than any other time.

A recent online poll by a popular DVD rental company revealed that up to 60% of the the people polled watch up to five movies a month staying at home, while 25% of them said it’s the economic slowdown that’s causing them to take this decision.

And the last six months have seen memberships soar by nearly 30%. Not surprising, not in the least.

The same goes for related home entertainment products such as high-definition TVs and home theater seating. An Australian company has actually reported a 10% rise in sales for flat screen and LCD TVs during the third quarter of 2008.

All of this is very good, but if you need more convincing, just wait till you see a rise in sales of home pop corn machines.

How to Optimize Resources and Thrive During a Recession

Alright, have we come to terms with the ‘global meltdown’ yet? While there’s no hard and fast rule that we have to accept it as a way of life, there are still some steps we could take to make our lives less painful, and in the process thrive from it.

First off, a marketing expert says, “Don’t cut prices now.” Huh? But research does show that if you discount your brand during a recession, it might take well up to seven years to recover your price level. A better idea would be to make your product more attractive by offering something for free — if you’re selling microwave ovens, throw in a set of microwave-proof dishes instead.

How’s your competition doing? Are they cutting down on their advertising budget? If so, you could cash in on that by stepping up your advertising and be assured that the revenues will make up for it. And people will recall your campaign long after the recession is done with.

And of course no one can deny that customer service and revenue generation go like smoke and fire. A notch higher customer service at a time like today’s, longer they will be remembered, and that just means more cash in the till in the long run.

Yet another recession-marketing specialist says you need to focus on your brand strength. Has it been around for long? Long enough to push people to recall the ‘good old times’? If so, you can build on that – when there’s crisis all around, my inclination would be look for my security blanket. In other words, products that make me feel ’safe’.

And if you’re in the online business, think how credible is your site? How well does it urge visitors to buy? I read a superb report on conversion rate optimization (CRO). What’s that? Simply put, it’s nothing but the subtle, yet scientific way how you go about persuading your visitors do something on your site that will benefit you in the short- or the long- run. Read the free CRO PDF report, and check if your site is making the best possible use of options available to you.

Last but not least, find out how you might create strategic alliances with matching products or services. For instance, if you’re selling chocolates, look for a tie-up with the local flower store. Let the flower shop promote your chocolates, and you try to push their flowers when you have a customer looking to buy chocolates. The result? You both stand to double your reach and stretch your marketing budget – for next to nothing.

Now you can see that despite the ‘impending doom’, there are some things you could do and take a proactive stance in gaining revenue and improving market share in this troubled time.

Traveling — with or without Insurance?

Just a couple of days ago, I read this news story about how more than 14 million British holidaymakers (that’s like 20 per cent of them) will travel abroad without travel insurance. What could be the issue here? Surely that it’s so hard to get a travel insurance quote these days?

Agreed there’s a recession on, and a depression looming over our heads, but traveling without insurance is not the way cut costs. On the other hand, it may just mean you end up spending more than you bargained for. And during a global turndown like the one we’re currently facing, you don’t want to take any kind of risk. At a time like that this a travel policy will be a real asset.

The news story goes on to say that hundreds of British holidaymakers are hospitalized abroad each year — with 2007 figures at 695 in Spain, 602 in Greece, and about 325 in Thailand, according to the Foreign Office’s ‘British Behavior Abroad’ 2007 report.

“It’s not expensive and you’ve got peace of mind for if anything goes wrong and that’s the main thing,” a spokeswoman for the Association of British Travel Agents told the BBC. “If anything goes wrong it’s going to cost you. You could have your house up for sale to try and raise extra money. Anything could happen.”